Truss



(No Model.)

R. I. PEARSON. TRUSIS.

No. 566,530. Patented Aug. 25, 1896.

NITED STA RICHARD I. PEARSON, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

TRUSS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 566,530, dated August25, 1896.

Application filed January 21,1896. Serial No 576,308. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD I. Pnanson, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trusses; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has relation to improvements in trusses for the treatment,relief, and ultimate cure of hernia and like ruptures; and the object isto provide a device for the retention of hernia that relieves the spineof any pressure and insures an absolute stability of position, thusavoiding the objections arising from constant changing of position inwalking, sitting, stooping, doc; and to these ends the novelty consistsin a truss formed of a body-spring having its ends curved upward,rearward, and downwardly in the form of an arch on each side, thefinger-pad adjustably secured in place upon the spring, a strapconnecting one end of the spring and attached at a point in front of thesummit of the arch.

It also consists of a truss formed of a bodyspring having its endscurved upward, rearward, and downwardly in the form of an arch on eachside, the pad adjustably secured in place upon the spring, strapsconnecting each end of the spring, and attached at a point in front ofthe summit of the arch.

It further consists in the construction, combination, and arrangementsof the parts of the same, as will be hereinafter more fully described,and particularlypointed out in the claims.

I have shown my invention applied to a truss in which the truss-pad isformed of one, two, or more parts formed of elastic material in theshape of fingers of the human hand, and supported in such a manner as tobe capable of individual adjustment to any desired position tofacilitate the retention of the hernia; but I do not wish to limitmyself to this particular form of pad, but may employ my improvement ontrusses having other and various forms of pads if I desire to do so.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective view of my improvedtruss. Fig. 2 represents a side view of a portion of a human figure,showing the truss properly applied. Fig. 8 is a rear view of the same.Figs. 4c, 5, 6, and 7 are detail views of parts of the device.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an arrangement ofsupporting devices for the truss-pad which will bring the pressureanterior to the hips instead of relying upon a posterior pressure, as isusual in other trusses, thereby relieving the spine from any pressureand insuring absolute stability of position of the pad in all changes ofposition, as in walking, stooping, sitting, 8:0. I provide asupporting-spring A, consisting of a m etallic strap or wire formedpreferably of aluminium bronze on account of its lightness and rigidity,the said strap or wire being bent so as to provide a central curved roda and a curved portion a a at each side of the central portion forengaging the hips of the wearer between the hip-joint and the top orcrest of the hip. These curved portions of a may be described as beingarched upward, rearward, and downward, so as to be adapted to rest uponthe hips of the patient at a point approximately in the same plane withthe pad. The curved side portions (1' a are preferably covered withleather or other mate rial and padded in any desired manner to insurecomfort, and the middle portion is leftuncovered and is corrugatedlongitudinally, as shown in cross-section, Fig. 7, to allow the pad B tobe securely attached by means of a clamping device I), with which it isprovided, and enabling the pad to be adjusted along the rod a to bringit into the proper position, and the connection between the clamp 13 andthe pad is such that it may also be set at any angle desired, asindicated in Fig. 7, and the fingers I) b are also adjustableindependently of each other.

The rear ends of the side portions a a are bared for a short distance,as shown in Fig. 3, and are each provided with an adjustable disk G, ofhard rubber or other suitable material. These disks are each providedwith a short shank, as shown in Fig. 6, perforated to receive the end ofthe wire of and provided with a set-screw c, the head of which servesalso as a'button which is engaged by one of the crossed back-straps ofthe truss.

here the side portions o a pass over the hips the covering is providedwith slots a ta as shown in Figs. 2 andet, and in each of these slotsthe wire is provided with an adjustable strap-securing device,consisting in this instance of a sliding block D, (shown in detail inthe sectional view, Fig. 5,) which is adjustable along the wire for thelength of the slot 00*, and may be secured in any desired position bymeans of a set-screw cl, the head of which also serves as a button toengage one of the back-straps.

E E represent the two crossed back-straps for securing the truss firmlyagainst accidental displacement. Each of these straps is providedpreferably with an aperture at one end and a series ofadjusting-apertures at the other end, as indicated, although it mighthave a series of adjusting-apertures at both ends, if preferred. Eachstrap is secured at one end to the button d of one of the sliding blocksD and crosses over to and is secured to the button 0 of the oppositehardrubber disk 0, the two straps thus crossing, as shown in Fig. 3. Inall ordinary cases the strap E will securely retain the truss inposition and prevent the common form of upward displacement of the pad,but in the case of patients who have hips or buttocks of unusual sizeprotruding outward additional means are required to prevent displacementof the spring and pad, and in these cases I employ the additional orauxiliary strap E, which is attached in a similar manner as the strap E,that is, it is attached to the spring at one end,thence crosses theother strap, and is adjustably secured to the spring at a pointsubstantially at the summit of the arch. By means-of the sliding block Dthe position of the buttons d d are adjusted so as to throw the pressureof the straps slightly forward of the hips, as shown in Fig. 2. Thisholds the truss and pad firmly in position in all the positions andmovements of the body and insures the comfort of the wearer and thecorrect position of the truss at all times. After the blocks D have beenadjusted once for a person they will not ordinarily have to be changed,but the wide range of adjustment afforded by this truss will be foundvery desirable in fitting them to the wearers and enabling slightvariations in the adjustments to be made until a perfect fit isobtained. By

making the metallic wire or spring A of aluminium bronze it may be bentto conform to the shape of the wearer, but will hold its shape whenfitted and will not tarnish. By means of the crossed backstraps thepressure is very evenly distributed and is thrown very largely forwardof the hips, as before stated, so as to prevent the pad from slippingup, and relieving the spine from pressure or strain.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A truss, substantially as described, consisting of the body-springhaving its ends curved upward, rearward and downwardly in, the form ofan arch on each side, the pad B adjustably secured in place on thespring, and a strap connecting one end of the spring and attached at apoint in front of the summit of the arch, as set forth.

2. A truss, substantially as described, consisting of the body-springhaving its ends curved upward, rearward and downwardly in the form of anarch on each side, the pad B secured in place on the spring and strapsconnecting each end of the spring with a point in the front of thesummit of the arch. as set forth.

3. A truss, substantially as described, c011- sisting of the body-springhaving its ends curved upward, rearward and downwardly in the form of anarch on .each side, the pad B secured in place upon the spring, straps EE connected to the spring and to the arch at a point in front of thesummit thereof, as set forth.

4:. A truss substantially as described, consisting of the body-springhaving its ends curved upward, rearward and downwardly in the form of anarch on each side, the pad B secured in place upon the spring, a strapconnected to one end of the spring, and an auX- iliary strap E attachedat a point in front of the summit of the arch, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. RICHARD I. PEARSON.

lVitnesses:

J. G. HOLLINGSWORTH, SHIRLEY S. MILLETT.

